NewsWhore
08-24-2007, 02:00 PM
Caribbean trade negotiator Richard Bernal praised Dominican-side negotiations leading into the Economic Partnership Agreement the Caribbean would sign with Europe. "The Dominican Republic is up to speed with its commitments, has participated fully and is not one of the countries that is still working on completing their tariff proposal," said the director general of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery.
The region needs to unify tariffs and complete negotiations for rum and sugar schemes in time for the year's end deadline when preferential treatment under the Cotonou Agreement runs out.
"If negotiations leading to the EPA aren't completed by December, Bernal says the Caribbean would be left with the less advantageous regime of the Generalized System of Preferences that also benefits many strong competitors.
According to Bernal, the smaller countries might have a tougher time changing their stance on things since they feel they have "more" to lose. "It is a sense of vulnerability that drives opposition, but the EPA's are looking to tackle that issue head on," he says.
He believes the negotiations will try to get the best deals for all countries involved.
He explained that the delays have been that most Caricom nations don't have or are only recently creating tax structures so that income sales taxation would bring in most revenues, as is the case in the Dominican Republic already.
dr1.com/trade/articles/290/1/... (http://dr1.com/trade/articles/290/1/CRNM-Director-General-Dr-Richard-L-Bernal-speaks/Page1.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
The region needs to unify tariffs and complete negotiations for rum and sugar schemes in time for the year's end deadline when preferential treatment under the Cotonou Agreement runs out.
"If negotiations leading to the EPA aren't completed by December, Bernal says the Caribbean would be left with the less advantageous regime of the Generalized System of Preferences that also benefits many strong competitors.
According to Bernal, the smaller countries might have a tougher time changing their stance on things since they feel they have "more" to lose. "It is a sense of vulnerability that drives opposition, but the EPA's are looking to tackle that issue head on," he says.
He believes the negotiations will try to get the best deals for all countries involved.
He explained that the delays have been that most Caricom nations don't have or are only recently creating tax structures so that income sales taxation would bring in most revenues, as is the case in the Dominican Republic already.
dr1.com/trade/articles/290/1/... (http://dr1.com/trade/articles/290/1/CRNM-Director-General-Dr-Richard-L-Bernal-speaks/Page1.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)